ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Non-invasive preservation assessment of archaeological bone using neutron imaging

Abstract: The project seeks to answer questions regarding the appropriate storage and display conditions for archaeological bone objects in English Heritage collections. A recent national audit of the English Heritage collection has indicated that archaeological bone is among the most damaged materials. Exposure to low relative humidity (RH) has caused the loss of mechanical properties and in some cases structural failure. To build a more cohesive understanding of bone, a multi-scale multi-analytical approach is being used to determine the integrity of bone including the physicochemical state of collagen and DNA . However, much of this work is destructive and may not be applicable to all archaeological collections. Therefore there is a need within the project to seek non-invasive methods regarding preservation assessment. Neutron imaging has indicated that it could provide such a methodology.

Public release date: 20 May 2024

Principal Investigator: Dr Marianne Odlyha
Local Contact: Dr Genoveva Burca
Experimenter: Dr david thickett
Experimenter: Miss Chloe Pearce

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1920744-1

Parent DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1920744

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1920744

Part Number: 1

Date of Experiment: 11 December 2019

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Marianne Odlyha et al; (2019): Non-invasive preservation assessment of archaeological bone using neutron imaging, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1920744-1

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.